by A. S. Oren
Copyright © 2014 A.S. Oren
Rook Hilt Publishing
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.
Fanworks are okay. Just make sure to link me, I would love to see them, and please have a disclaimer.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Previously On Spearwood Academy
Brother Dearest
Escape
The Memories in the Walls
Depletion
Sisters
Spearwood Recoil
Liar
Fake it
Been Around, Apparently.
Cabin Bound
One Night
Cocoa
Previously On Spearwood Academy
“One of you is missing,” Elex says.
We turn back to the group. What is he talking about? I look over to the group. At first glance, they look to all be here, but then something dings inside of me. Triton is missing.
“Where’s Triton?” I ask.
Everyone looks at each other, as if the others have more information than they do. I fall into Igraine as the basement begins to shake. Her eyes go wide. “Oh, no.”
Elex runs through a door at the back of the room. Igraine follows. Curiosity sinks in and the rest of us run after them.
We follow them into an unfished dirt room. A young man stands at the center of the room, his hair long and white. Next to him stands Triton. The hair on my arms and neck stands in end.
Elex ignites fire in the palm of his hands.
The man cocks his head. “Not excited to see me, Dad?”
Dad?
“How did you get out?”
“My good little servants helped me.” The man’s dark eyes fall on me. “Well, look at you, little sister. All grown up. How long has it been, eleven years?” I try to search my mind for memories of an older brother, none come to mind.
“You walked right into my trap. It will be so easy to destroy all of you.”
Brother Dearest
His obsidian eyes stare into mine. A shiver of fright shakes my spine. I try with all of my might to recall a memory of him from my past, but nothing rises to the surface, not even a memory just out of reach. Is this guy really my brother? Why would Elex and Igraine imprison him? How long has he been in this room?
He rights his neck and takes several steps toward me. The fire in Elex’s hand’ rises higher into the air. Paden and Maverick step in front of me. Dante, Bullock, Horace, Mirren and Amr form the rest of a protective barrier. They sense it too, the darkness radiating off him in waves like a dense, black smoke. “You don’t remember me, do you, little sister?”
“How did you get out? My magic was perfect,” Igraine says, with a shaky voice’ from either fear or anger.
“You didn’t account for the fact I was still conscious the entire time: eleven years. It gave me a long time to reflect, grow, and evolve.” Through the small gap in-between Maverick and Paden’s almost touching arms, I watch him place his hand on Triton’s shoulder. Triton turns his head to look at the hand. His lip curls, but he does nothing to remove it. Why is he helping this guy?
“Now, now.” The guy takes the hand touching Triton’s shoulder and pats him on the cheek. “Don’t make such a dirty face. Instantly, Triton’s face goes returns to normal. I frown. Something’s not right. Is Triton being controlled with same sludge-like stuff that Roseman controlled me with? How would this guy be able to control him though? Have they met before?
The guy moves a strand of pure white hair out of his face. “Where was I? My powers are stronger now, more advanced than you could’ve foreseen. I was able to stay in contact with my servants, and they got me out.”
“You make yourself sound like some kind of wannabe Voldemort.” I push my way past Maverick and Paden. Maverick grabs my hand. I glance back at him and give him a soft smile, letting him know I’m okay. I leave my hand in his. The warmth brings me comfort.
The guy frowns. “I have no idea what a Voldemort is.”
“Avalon, get back in the barrier!” Elex says, stepping in front of me.
Maverick pulls on my hand, making me stumble back into him. He leans down next to my ear. “It’s our job to protect you, Lon. Don’t make it harder for us to do.” Soft, warm lips meet with my cheek, before he guides me behind Paden and him again. Hot electricity moves through my body like a runaway train. I touch my cheek. More memories come to the surface, but I can’t see them. It’s like looking through frosted glass. “I love you, Lon.” Maverick’s voice echo’s through my mind. Was that a real memory?
“It’s enduring how you think someone like you can protect her from someone like me, Dad.”
“I’m not your dad, I never would’ve conceived something so horrible. You haven’t been my son in years, Aibek.”
Aibek, so that’s his name! A hand goes to Aibek’s chest. “How your words pierce me, DAD. I thought you’d be proud of me. Mom would’ve been. She would’ve been proud that I was making our kind the top of the food chain again. For centuries, our kind have been acting like humans, even going as far as breeding with them. We aren’t human. We were blessed with by the Sun god for a reason: to rule over them, like we did in the past. And now, with the powers graced upon me by mom, I will rise up and lead us into a new era where we are feared and worshipped like gods, as we should be.”
“You can’t lead our kind, Aibek. You aren’t our kind.” A ball of fire forms in Elex’s hand and grows to the size of a large globe. He hurls it at Aibek, who doesn’t even flinch. He holds up his hand and the fire goes into his palm, dissipating.
He gives chuckle. “You’re right, Dad. I’m not your kind. I’m so much more: a hybrid, just like little sister and brother.”
What? What is he talking about? I thought hybrids weren’t possible with our kind.
“That’s not possible,” Horace says behind me, echoing my thoughts.
Aibek looks at Horace. “But it is. I’m the first Fallen Angel and Dragon. Just like little sister and brother.”
“They aren’t demons like you,” Igraine says.
In the blink of an eye, Aibek stands in front of her. “Not a very nice thing to call your twin sister, Aunt Igraine. And I thought Angles were supposed to be forgiving creatures. Are you fallen now, too?
She glares at him. He looks her over, before reaching into the air. Two fingers grip at nothing. He pulls down. Igraine flinches. A white feather appears in his fingers. A black tip stands at the wide end of it.
“No, not fallen, yet, but you aren’t pure anymore either. I guess that comes from letting a man, who you stole away from my mother, impregnate you.”
“That’s not true. She told you lies!” Igraine shakes.
He stares at her without blinking. Will he lash out at her? “My mom never lied to me. She told me only the truth. I will fulfill her dream of our kind leading the world into submission. And I will do it with my hybrid powers.” He turns in our direction now. “What do you say, little sister . . . and brother? Let’s combine our powers and take back our world.”
“Don’t listen to him, Avalon. He tried to kill you and your brother when you were babies,” Igraine says.
“Only because I didn’t understand how beneficial they would be to my cause. I wanted to be the only hybrid, but
now, I’ve changed my mind.”
From my protective knight barrier, I say, “You must’ve gone mad from all those years locked away inside your head, because I would never join such a cause.”
He nods, as if he understands. Is he really going to take my rejection so easily? “And you, little brother?”
“I second what Avvi said.” My heart beats again. I knew he would never go to the dark side, but there was still a small part of me that had doubt.
“So be it. If you won’t join me . . . then you are against me, and I can’t have two other hybrids roaming this Earth.”
Escape
The air grows colder. Shadowy energy appears in the palm of both of his hands, swirling like whirlpool. My muscles grow tight, and my heart drops heavy in my stomach. I don’t want to move. I don’t want to do anything. “Get Avalon out of here. She has to survive, at all costs!” Elex orders. The guys go into an attack stance. How do they have the will to move? I loll my head to look back at Amr, whose eyelids are heavy. It’s only affecting us. Whatever magic Aibek’s doing ’sucks the will to function out of me. I fall to my knees. Maybe if I just curl up and rest for a while, I’ll feel better.
“Lon!” Maverick yells.
“Amr!” Horace screams at the same time.
“Innocents, like you, can’t handle the pull of pure darkness,” Aibek laughs.
“Attack his hands!” Dante yells.
The crumbling rock and the elements moving around alert some small part of my brain to the chaos happening. I know I should care. I should be doing something to help, but the rest of my brain could care less. I close my eyes. The heaviness of sleep falls over me like a wet blanket. Yes, this is nice.
Strong arms pick me up. I try to open my eyes, but I can’t bring up enough strength to even crack them.
“Shift! We need more power!”
Who’s talking? I wish they would be quiet. I want to sleep.
“Get down!”
“Cover her!”
All the voices swirl together in my mind, forming one monstrous sound: The Boogeyman. My body meets the cold, hard dirt. I gasp. A heavy body presses down over me.
“Your body won’t protect her!” Aibek’s voice ’echoes, the only voice I can differentiate from the others.
The person on me grunts in pain. The need to sleep eases off. Something hot and wet hits my cheeks. I force my eyes open. I need to know what’s going on. Maverick’s body shields mine from the assault of Aibek’s attack. Fire rains down on his back, burning away his shirt. His tears fall on to my cheeks, but he doesn’t make a sound. I glance around at the rest of the room. Everyone lies on the ground: dead or unconscious, I can’t tell.
“It’s okay, Lon. I’ll protect you if it’s the last thing I do. Now that you’ve returned to yourself, I never want us to be at opposite ends again,” Maverick gasps. My own hot tears course down my cheeks. I use a finger to cover his lips. He shouldn’t be talking right now. Aibek’s shadow falls over us. The force of his fire grows stronger, burning the tops of my hands. His black eyes look into mine.
Maverick’s arms shake and give away. His full body weight falls on me. No, he’s not dead. He can’t be. “No!” My voice rings off the walls, causing cracks to form everywhere. I have to get them all out of here. I won’t let’ them die for me. My vision goes white.
The Memories in the Walls
The rush of running water, the scent of a murky river and a cool breeze creating goose bumps on my arms alert me to the fact I’m somewhere else. The dirt room disappeared. My eyes open. I lie in the bank of a river. Maverick’s body remains on top of mine, my arms around his torso, holding him to me. The side of my face presses into his chest. His natural scent invades my senses. A calm rushes over me, filling my mind with the images that wanted to burst forth in the dirt room.
“Don’t let that wuss take you, Lon,” Paden calls. My eleven-year-old arms hold onto Maverick’s, as we try force each other to the edge of the made-in-the-dirt ring we created in the barn.
“You’re supposed to cheer me on, brother!”
Paden laughs. “Nah. I know she’s going to win. She always does. “
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Den. Mav is easy to beat, though.”
I push my weight forward, forcing him to stumble back. He stops inches from the edge of the ring. Damn, almost had him. “Don’t call me Mav.” He pushes back, making my feet slide as they try to get traction with the dirt. He grins. He must think he has me this time.
I smile. “You’d you rather we call you Ick?” I laugh, as another burst of strength enters my legs. This time, I get him over the line. I laugh and use more power to push him to the ground, straddling his stomach. I lick my finger and shove it in his ear. He groans and tries to rub away my spit. I laugh more. He hates when I do that, but he’ll get me back later. I look down at him, waiting for him to start his normal tickle war. His light blue eyes stare back into mine. He swallows hard. I frown. What’s up with him? He looks like he just saw ghost. His cheeks grow red. “What’s wrong?” I ask.
The red grows a deeper shade. “Get off!” he snaps.
I frown. “But you normally tickle me when I give you a wet Willy.”
He growls. “I said, get off!” He shoves me back. Not ready for the force of his push, I fall off him and onto the ground. He stumbles as he stands up.
“Why are you being mean?”
“Stay away from me!” He runs out the barn doors. I stare after him.
I look to Paden. He stares after Maverick as well.
“What did I do?”
He turns his dark blue eyes on me. “Nothing. I’ll go talk to him.” Paden runs out of the barn, leaving me in the dirt: alone. A tightness grows in my chest. What did I do wrong? Tears blur my vision.“”
My cheeks flush as the memory ends. Being older now, I know what caused him to lash out at me. Logical sense rushes back to me. “Maverick!” I try to wiggle out from underneath him. I have to know if he’s okay. There’s no way he let a guy like Aibek kill him. He’s too strong willed. I just know it. He has to weigh almost 200Lbs in muscle. I push with all my might, but not even the adrenaline coursing through me is enough to get leverage. I don’t want to hurt him more by forcing him off me like a log. “Maverick! Are you okay?”
A soft groan escapes his lips. At least, I hope it’s a groan and not air escaping. Warm breath drifts over my ear, as he turns his face toward my head. “I’ve felt better,” he croaks.
A sigh of relief bursts from me. “Thank the Sun god.”
Something clicks in him, and he’s off of me faster than a jackrabbit. He looks at me with wide eyes. “Are you okay?”
I sit up. I glance around at the nearby trees and the apples on the ground. I know where we are: the Orchard. How did we get here? I look to Maverick. He’s still hurt. I need to help him. “I’m fine. I need to heal you. What were you thinking? You could’ve been killed!” Guilt rushes through me. I know he only did it to protect me as a member of the Vox, but I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t ask to have my own guard.
I crawl around him. Sitting on my knees, I survey the damage. I hover my hand over it. Heat radiates in waves from his skin. He flinches, as if he can feel my hand just inches away. I swallow hard.
“I want to protect you, Avalon. I meant what I said back there. I will give my life for yours. I’ll never let you die in my arms. I don’t think I could live, if you were no longer walking this Earth. I’d rather have you walking just ahead of me, like you did when you hated me with false memories, than no longer have you here at all. The world would lose yet another light that keeps the darkness from swallowing it whole.”
I swallow hard. Hot tears rush into my eyes and down my cheeks. I quickly brush them away. He never talks to me like this. I try to push down the giddiness that sparks in me over his confession. I need to focus on how to heal him right now. “How are you still conscious?” I search for something that will heal his burns. The river runs next to
us, but I don’t think I can heal him with water like I did Bullock. Nothing in my gut pulls me in that direction.
My bare knees scrape on the dirt, causing a noise. I look down at it. ‘Mud,’ something inside me echoes. I scramble to my feet. Rushing to the water, I splash it onto the drier dirt. I don’t need the sand at the bank.
Maverick watches me with glazed over eyes. “What are you doing?”
“Making mud to heal your burns. They’re bad, Mav.”
His upper body wavers, as he gets onto his hands. He tries to crawl toward me. “You haven’t called me that in such a long time. You’ve remembered more?” His arms shake as he collapses, scraping the side of his cheek along the dirt and rocks. He tries to push himself off his stomach, but doesn’t get very far.
“Yes. Stop trying to move. You’re only hurting yourself more. We’re out of danger, for now.” I move to kneel next him and form a soft mud out of the water and dirt, focusing my energy on how I want it to heal all of his wounds. “I don’t know if this will hurt or not. I apologize in advance, if it does.”
Cautiously, I place my mud-filled hands over his back. I wince, when I make contact with his hot flesh. I don’t want to cause him more pain, pain caused by me.
He winces, but makes no noise. I spread the mud in a thick layer over his back, covering every inch of his back. “Oh,” he moans, as the last bit of skin gets covered. “That feels incredible.”
I smile. I hope it works. Water, the instinctual voice speaks again, not like the split part of me from before. This part of me seems primal—gut instinct—with a voice. I shake my head. I don’t want to go crazy again. “Get into the river and wash it off.”
Without questioning me, he pushes himself up to stand, as if the pain from minutes before never existed in the first place. He pulls his shredded shirt off his body and walks half-clothed into the waist-deep river.
